FenTiger

How safe is it to use UK three pin plug to Hungarian 2 pin plug adaptors for electrical appliances, i.e. washing machine, dish washer, TV's, etc? I'm curious because at this point in time we don't know if our house buyers want to buy our electrical appliances, i.e. washing machine and dishwasher.

Freesat TV receiver - will this work in Hungary if we have a satellite dish? Is it worth bringing over? We also have a Freeview TV receiver which I know once we advertise it on Freecycle or FB will be picked up within 24 hours!

Jack_Russells4ever

It should be okay to use the adapters with most UK appliances as long as they fit together tight. If you were using an electric heater or electric cooker I would recommend changing the plug on the end of the cord but that is just me. We have several UK appliances and power tools that we have those adapters on and no problems. I would recommend buy a few extras and using electrical tape to tape the adapters together because for some strange reason we have 3 of those adapters just disappear around the time of visitors being here.

FenTiger

Visitors - Hungarian or British?

wolfi

Equally important is it to have a look at the max current/power that is available in your new home, is it just two phase or three phase?
If you are afraid, maybe because your wires/cables are old you might look for an FI switch, known in Britain as a RCD, and have that installed.
PS:
I had this kind of problem the other way round visiting my sister in England and solved it economically by bringing an extension cord with several outlets.

PaulinEger

Similar to Wolfi, I used UK trailing sockets fitted with 2 pin plugs until I got round to fitting new 2 pin plugs to all my UK appliances. Cheaper than buying a load of adapters. New plugs over here are cheap and easy to fit.

Jack_Russells4ever

FenTiger British. They have small kids probably was the them

FenTiger

Did you get the adaptors back?

Pulaski

If the earth wire is actually connected to the appliance then you would not be protected in the event of an electrical malfunction if you have used an adapter to plug it into a two-pin socket.

If what ever you're using has a detachable cord, as do kettles, computers, video equipment, etc, then you can see at the appliance end of the cord if it is using two or three wires. Otherwise it is likely (but not certain) that a flat cord has two wires, and a round cord has three. A two wire cord is not using the earth pin so you don't need the protection of it, and using an adapter to plug it into a two-pin socket is no more dangerous than using a three-pin socket in the UK.

I would be very cautious about using anything that has a three-wire cord with an adapter to connect it to a two-pin socket. If you do so, keep it well away from liquids, including drinks.

Generally speaking, anything with a metal case or exposed metal parts, such as a washing machine or kettle, is going to use the earth pin on a British three-pin plug, and in the event of a malfunction or ahort, the case could become live!

Jack_Russells4ever

No, I didn't ask the parents because I didn't discover them missing for a few days and they were already back in the UK. I had bought extras because they were cheap enough on eBay UK. That is why I taped the rest to the cords with electrical tape. No biggie, I was out maybe £6 at most. They had been playing in the workshop where they disappeared from.

Peter_in_Hungary

The 2 pin Hungarian plugs as bought today have an earth connection in the body of the plug, actually 2, one at the top and one at the bottom. Sockets also have earth connections to match the plugs. I don't know when the conversion to earthed plugs and sockets was made but they have been standard for more than 26 years. Old type 2 pin (non earthed) sockets can still be found and will accept earthed plugs. You would have to check the socket type to see what you have, non-earthed sockets are fairly flat at the surface whilst earthed sockets are recessed to cater for the earth pins which can be easily seen.

The Hungarian house wiring is very different to that of the UK, there are no ring mains but the wiring is radial from the consumer unit.and the lighting is not separated from the power.

For those weaned on the old UK standard of red, black and green the old Hungarian standard can be confusing as the red was used as the earth wire (as opposed to red as the phase (live) as in the UK)

There is still quite a bit of old wiring about and this will probably be aluminium and the correct procedure needs to be used if connecting it to new copper wiring.

Most domestic places will have single phase and those requiring higher power will have 3 phase. I have never seen 2 phase installed, it is either 1 or 3.

The standard single phase is 230V and the standard household supply without additional cost is 32A plus 32A on a night meter (= UK E7 I think)

Hungary does not have the regulation about doing your own rewiring that the UK has so many people do their own modifications / rewiring.

hobgoblins

I wonder if that's why the USB leads on my Mac give me a mild shock if I touch them or if I plug a metal cased flash drive in ... not sure if it's because I'm running it via an adaptor ... which has the metal earth pins in the sides ... or wether it's a motherboard fault ...

Pulaski

Maybe - is the power cord a three core cord? USB cords generally only carry 5v, so any shock should be "very mild", unless there is a short, and there is no ground protection, when it could be as much as mains voltage, depending on what has shorted.

hobgoblins

I have a long extension lead which is the rolled up type and I bought that in the UK... that has a conversion adaptor at the end plugged into the wall socket with the Mac plugged directly in at the other end.
The wiring in my house is a chaotic nightmare but I don't get shocks off anything else ... the only problem I found very early on is that I can't plug the kettle into the same socket as the fridge using a twin socket extension as it causes wisps of smoke from the main wiring running in the roof space ... which I need to get checked by an electrician !

wolfi

Peter, what you describe with the third "recessed" contact is generally used on the continent - in German it's called Schuko, short for Schutzkontakt. Btw the Swiss have another variation of the three contact system - on the two contacts level it's compatible with the other i e Schuko system.

PS:
Of course you're right re the phases - I should have written "one phase or three phase", sorry.

One could write whole books over the differences and advantages/disadvantages of the British and the continental system ...

Benny Kovacs

Who as a child never put their tongue across the terminals on a 9v battery?

I laugh at your 5v...

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